TEACH WITH NEXUS
Working with an Instructional Designer
Instructional design is the practice of systematically designing, developing, and delivering instructional materials and experiences for learners in a consistent and reliable manner. Instructional designers can play an important role, especially in online or blended courses, to help instructors identify the performance, skills, and knowledge gaps of a targeted group of learners and create or suggest learning experiences to close that gap.
How Instructors Can Benefit
Instructional designers can help instructors in a variety of ways, ranging from course design, setup and structure to the actual delivery and maintenance of course content. Among the areas of collaboration instructors have found particularly useful include:
- Assisting in the development of new and revised courses by incorporating instructional design theory and best practices into course delivery
- Assisting in the review of courses, activities, and delivery tools to ensure they are appropriately aligned with learning objectives and desired course outcomes
- Aligning course design and developing to quality standards for online and hybrid delivery
- Providing feedback to instructors and production teams on course design and the consistency and appropriateness of course content and delivery
- Assessing the efficacy of course design and delivery
- Ensuring instructors have the necessary support to create, deliver, evaluate, and improve their courses
How to Work with an Instructional Designer
Nexus recently appointed a new instructional designer dedicated to assisting instructors and instructional teams with the design and delivery of their online and residential courses. Our instructional designer is available to collaborate with instructors on any step of the course design and delivery process, ranging from light consultation to a comprehensive course build. We offer flexible support based on the diverse needs of instructors.
- Initial planning: Discuss desired learning objectives, levels of course interaction, assessments, etc.
- Course design: Align learning outcomes/objectives to Bloom’s Taxonomy
- Course development: Create engaging, supplemental materials based on your content
- Course review: Complete quality checks and ADA accessibility checks; make revisions as needed
- Course maintenance: Conduct an ongoing review of learner outcomes; identify areas for improvement and work with instructors to improve, adjust, or redesign as needed
- Technology consultation: Provide information and training on useful teaching and learning technologies
To collaborate with a Nexus instructional designer, email NexusDesign@umich.edu. A member of our team will work with you to schedule a 1:1 consultation and discuss next steps for course design and development.